New Delhi, Oct. 22: A negative growth of crude petroleum has pulled down growth of six infrastructure industries to an estimated 4.2 per cent during the first six months of the current fiscal. The growth in these industries — crude petroleum, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel — stood at 6.5 per cent during April-September, 2002-03.

New Delhi, Oct. 22: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals has signed a term contract with Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, for import of 60,000 barrels per day of Arab mix crude during October 2003 to March 2004.

New Delhi, Oct. 22: Finance minister Jaswant Singh will soon convene a meeting of state chief ministers to work out details for implementation of the much-delayed value-added tax in the country, minister of state for revenue Shripad Naik said.

Mumbai, Oct. 22: The RBI today said that foreign institutional investors can now make investments in i-Flex Solutions up to 60 per cent of its paid-up capital. The investments could be made in equity shares and convertible debentures of i-Flex Solutions, as the company has passed a resolution at its general body meeting today.